WISH
by Sci-Fi Raptor
Summary: A broken man makes a simple wish...


WISH 

**By:** Sci-Fi Raptor

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Love Hina, Ah! My Goddess or its characters. They are owned by their creators and whoever own's their current license. I do, however, own any characters that I make during the length of this story.

Songs I listened to while writing this: A Favor House Atlantic by Coheed and Cambria, 12:51 by The Strokes

Heavily borrows from scenes from Volume 2, 7, 9, 13 in the manga, so don't sue me for plagiarism… I'm sorry, but I don't know the formal manner to cite something like this, but I'm giving the author of Love Hina, Ken Akamatsu, credit.

The Holophone was an idea I got from Futurama, so I guess they own that. (They being the people who _own _Futurama)

Read, Enjoy (I hope…), and (please) Review.

(-O-)

"I wish that I could see her face one more time…" said a broken man, the knife shaking in his hand.

"Your wish is approved," smiled a heavenly beauty.

(O)

"When will you have enough!" Naru yelled as she sent the resident perv flying into outer space. Fortunately for him, he collided into a nuclear missile meant to destroy my high school, and sent it merrily to the moon, while he was propelled a few minutes sprint from the mansion. _I must be improving…_ Kietaro thought moments before he collided with a tree on his decent. _I only got one punch today…_

Minutes later, he was back in his room, curling into his futon. _I don't think I'll ever get used to that…_ he thought in afterthought. _Though I must say that her breasts have…um… swelled in size as of late. _He lay down in his futon, sleeping with a smile on his face and a trickle of blood running from his nose.

(From Outside)

The night was dark as usual, illuminated only by the thin line of the crescent moon. Being a midsummer's night, the crickets were chirping to each other incessantly. Over and over again. Not stopping for any reason in their beastly act of luring a suitable mate. And never, ever finding one. Ever in the three or fourth months that they incessantly chirp, but manage to spawn another generation, even though they seem to have such rare matings, to continue on the next year to drive others mad in the middle of the night while they attempt to write and are wired on caffeine and coke!

A gentle wind blew the few and far clouds hanging in the sky. It made the local vegetation sway in a mesmerizing form, moving in unrelenting harmony. An owl hooted and flew to chase what prey it had decided to stalk. Its prey, a ground rat, quickly scrambled at the last second. It was too late, however, since the owl had stealthily gotten too close and plucked it into the air.

A rabbit poked its head out of its burrow, a few feet from Kietaro's window. It sniffed the air, wary for any unseen predators. For some reason, it started feeling a sense of calm. It felt a sense of warmness, a sense of security. Its motions became less jumpy, but silkier. It stared at the night sky as a heavenly beam descended into the room of a certain man. The warm, soft light eventually faded and all was as it should be, except for the circular pattern of clouds above the estate. The rabbit's ears twitched just as an owl's talons racked its skull.

(O)

_Man, I feel like I have the worst hangover ever…_ Kietaro thought when he woke up. He went to the wash closet as usual and got ready for yet another day. _I knew it was all a dream_, he thought as he remembered the night before. He walked down the hallway to the dining room where Shinobu was setting breakfast.

_Hold up…_ he thought, just realizing that something was amiss. He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see none other than…

Naru went downstairs as normal. She felt kind of guilty for sending Kietaro off to space again. Mind you, she didn't even consider the possibility that he may have never come back, but that would have made the manga/anime dull/uninteresting. She felt even guiltier when she saw Kietaro walking to the dining room a bit confusedly. He turned to face her and reeled back.

_Uh-oh. Maybe I've done it this time…_ Naru thought. Kietaro had never been afraid of her after one of her assaults.

"N-Narusegawa?" Kietaro asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, what do you want you baka?" she greeted him as usual. _I'll apologize later_, she thought. _When he's acting normal._

The older male didn't respond. He just walked up to her and reached out a hand to caress her face. Without even thinking about it, she closed her eyes and she nuzzled her cheek into his shaky hand's embrace. She sighed in content and went beet red when she realized what she was doing.

"Get your hands offa me you perv!" she said automatically and sent him on an encore trip to yesterday's destination. (Fortunately, a US spy satellite was in the way, so he bounced off of it to a place a few minutes sprint from the mansion, causing it to loose its alignment and point at me as I type this, alarming the CIA and NSA of my knowledge of such a blunder, causing them to send agents after me with M-16's and Cobra combat helicopters, but failing to find me at the scene since I decide to raid the nearest White Castle (what _I_ crave), causing me to have a bunch of misadventures with an Asian and Indian guy who also are trying to go to White Castle that involve narcotics and cheetah)

_The nerve of that guy_, she thought as she stormed to the dining room. _To think that _I_ was going to apologize to _him

Breakfast went on as usual, though Kietaro didn't show up.

(O)

"Man, it feels good to have a dip to relieve stress," Mutsumi says to Naru.

"Especially with the auxiliary exams coming up," she agreed.

"Hey you, turtle girl," Kitsune says, getting her attention. "I've been seeing you around her a lot lately."

"Have you gotten used to our schedule?" Shinobu asks. Su and Sarah jump in.

"Hello everybody," she says Mutsumi-like. "Isn't it great to bathe together?" she asks when everyone is settled.

"You should be careful, there's a beast nearby," Naru says. _Though I haven't seen him since this morning…_

"You mean Tama?" Mutsumi asks, thinking of a large turtle destroying a city.

"Kietaro!" she exclaims. "I don't know how many times he's peeped at us!" she says angrily. "And he always comes up with these lame excuses."

"You know," Shinobu says, "It's probably not on purpose…"

"Speak of the devil," Kitsune says, pointing to the figure of a certain ronin's shadow walking past the entrance to the springs.

"Shinobu, get behind me," Naru says protectively. "Well, lets see what today's excuse is…" she says, cracking her knuckles.

Kietaro walks past.

"Huh?" Naru says, surprised. "He didn't notice?"

Kietaro's room

_Wow, these seem so easy now,_ he thinks, looking at a bunch of papers in front of him. On them are sets of difficult differential and integral math problems that he flawlessly solved. _Now to see if I remember this,_ he says, quizzing himself on some history questions.

Su and Sarah jump towards Kietaro, greeting him as usual.

"Heads up, Kietaro!" Sarah says, ready to smash an artifact into his head.

"Did you stop peeping yet?" Su says, her foot outstretched.

"Hi you two," Kietaro says, moving his head to the side a bit and dodging their attacks. The two land in front of him, puzzled. _He dodged!_

"That's strange," he says as they look at him strangely. "Don't you two usually kick me when you say hi?"

"Never mind, keep it up, okay?" Su says as the two flee.

"Hey Su," Kietaro asks as the two are about to leave.

"Yeah?" she asks.

"What's the date?" Su tells him.

"Thanks Su," he says as they leave. _Wow, the test is so soon…_

"Kitsune!" Sarah says with genuine worry.

"There's something wrong with Kietaro!" Su finishes for her younger partner in terror.

"What's up with him?" she asks.

"He's studying!" Su exclaims.

"Isn't he always?" she says dismissively.

"Yeah, but its different somehow," Su insists.

"Look, it's Sempai," Shinobu points out.

"A banana peel in his path," Su says.

"And Naru-Sempai is on the phone in front of him," Shinobu adds.

"Which means," Kitsune finishes. They imagine him slipping on the peel as he reads his book and grabbing Naru's blouse. Then she punches him and he goes flying off. Su gags Shinobu while Kitsune looks for the first aid kit.

However, to their surprise, Kietaro actually takes the peel off of the floor and throws it away, not angering Naru at all while she's engrossed in her conversation. His stalkers continue following him and notice him go towards Motoko's room, which had the door open while she is changing.

_Motoko's changing,_ Kitsune thinks. _Keitaro'll mess up!_

Motoko hears a strange noise from her bag and opens it, revealing- Tama! She reels back in surprise, only to have a hand grab the reptile and walk away.

"Wow! He took care of the situation so smoothly," Kitsune says. _And he didn't even notice her changing!_

"See, see," Su says to the older woman. "Isn't it weird?"

"Its strangely odd," Shinobu says.

"Maybe it'll rain spears…" Sarah says, face faulting.

"Okay, I'll take care of it with my charm," Kitsune says, her grin exposing that she has another conniving plan. "I'll get him back to the old pervert that he is!"

_Is Sempai really that perverted?_ Shinobu thinks.

"Hey Kietaro," Kitsune says, entering the manager's room. "Can I ask you for a favor?"

She walks next to him and explains, "I bough some clothes, will you have a look?" she takes her outer clothing off and reveals black lingerie.

"Well, what do you think?" she says, showing off. Su, Sarah and Shinobu face fault while Motoko crashed to the floor. _Who's the pervert_, they all think.

"Hmm?" she says when she doesn't get a reaction. She sees Kietaro intently looking at his sticker collection.

"You're ignoring me?!" she says. He still doesn't notice her. Kitsune looks at his face and thinks, _Today, Kietaro looks more handsome than usual. More mature…_

"Hmm?" Kietaro says and takes note of Kitsune. He walks up to her so they're eye to eye. "Kitsune-kun…" he says affectionately.

_What's going on! _She thinks as he takes his robe off._ And why's he so close!!!_

"You don't have to charm me to buy you any sake," he says, smiling lovingly at her. He puts the robe on her. "If you can wait till dinner is ready, I'll bring some of your favorite from town," he says, still smiling. Kitsune leaves the room, leaving the manager back to his sticker collection. Kitsune sighs as she goes down the hall.

"How did it go, Kitsune?" Shinobu asks worriedly.

"I think I like him the way he is," she thinks dreamily.

"Huh?!" Shinobu says, her face crimson.

"But he aint no fun like that!?" Su whines.

"I agree with Kitsune," Motoko says. "A Japanese man must be stern. He was just too mushy until now," she says, putting a hand to her chin. "Even charms can't get to him now."

"Oh, hi, Motoko-chan," Kietaro says as he walks past, walking with a step the girls had never seen before.

"Urishima-san, how are your studies?" she answers.

"Studies?" He asks, and then realizes something. "Piece of cake!" he says, giving her a thumbs-up and a confident smile.

"It's a change for the better," she says pleasantly.

_Wow, he's really impressed her…_ Shinobu thinks.

"I think he's boring…" Su says with a bored look.

"Hey, Kaora," Shinobu whispers. "Isn't there some kind of machine to fix him?"

"Hmm…" she thinks, looking like a wise man. Suddenly, she garnishes some kind of helmet and is holding some test tubes with some kind of chemicals in them. "Okay, with this personality modification unit and these secret chemicals…"

"Hey, aren't they experimental?" Sarah says, lunging at the royal monkey genius from Mol Mol.

"No way!" Shinobu says, her arms flailing.

"Kietaro has become serious?" Naru questions. "No way! That slow, perverted idiot can't change in a life time if he wanted to."

"But he didn't fall for the banana, or Motoko-san changing or Kitsune-san's woos…" Shinobu argues.

"I can't believe that…" Naru says in disbelief. "Maybe he _has_ reformed himself. Good thing, considering the exams are so close by…"

"But…" Shinobu says.

_Well, he does seem to be into his studying…_ Naru thinks. The two were studying together as usual, though Kietaro had been pretty quiet the whole time. She bends forward so she can go back to work. Suddenly, she realizes that she has just exposed her cleavage and looks at him angrily saying, "Did you peek? You perverted-"

"Wait!" he says, still staring at his book. "If you do this, you can substitute 1 for sin2 cos2!" He then realizes that Naru has spoken. "Hmm? Narusegawa? Did you say something."

"Nothing, never mind…" she says embarrassed. _Wow, he really has lost his pervertedness. Maybe it was the center exam?_ (He got his first B rating that time)

"Getting back to things, what didn't you get?" she asks.

"Its okay, I figured it out," he says dismissively. The two sit there silently. Eventually Naru starts looking at him.

_Well, serious is good, but he's not himself…_ she thinks while looking at him. She gets an idea.

"Hey Kietaro," Naru says seductively, pulling her collar forward. "Isn't it getting hot in here?" she says, thinking, _I'm such a temptress._

Kietaro suddenly looks at her.

"Oh!" she says, feeling like she's been caught in the act of something.

"This sin(2x) can be divided by sin if it's expanded to 2sincos!" he says in realization, going back to his book.

_Huh? He didn't even glance or even notice me?! _she thinks as the more familiar outcomes plays in her head. _Kietaro, you've gone to far!_ she says in her head at an imaginary perverted Kietaro.

"Are you okay, Naru?" he asks when he notices her agitation.

"Yeah. It's really hot for a winter's night," she says, pulling back her blouse. "Maybe I'll slip out of this." (Yeah, I kinda screwed up the seasons throughout this fic…)

"Narusegawa!" Kietaro says, suddenly bolting upright.

_Ah!_ Naru thinks in panic. _I overdid it!_ she thinks in alarm. _Wait Kietaro! I didn't mean…_

"Sorry, I had the heater on too high…" he said, lowering the heat with a remote.

"Well," he says as he goes down their hole, "I have some things I have to think about, so I'll leave you alone for the rest of the evening. "I swear, it seems like the girls have been trying to set me up all day or something…" he says under his breath as he descends.

"Uh…" she says, stunned by the unexpected maneuver. He turns off his light, but leaves a few minutes later. Naru falls asleep before his return.

(O)

The next day, at the springs

"I've rediscovered a better side of him," Kitsune says, blushing. "He can be manly if he tries." _He's got a babyface, but he's cute._

"I hope he stays as he is," Motoko says, a small smile adorning her face.

"…" (Naru)

"If he makes it into Tokyo U," Kitsune says, thinking aloud with her head propped on her hand. "He'll be quite a catch. Maybe I'll have a shot at him." Naru goes beet red at what her friend just said.

Kitsune starts cleaning herself, causing Motoko to say, "What are you doing, Kitsune-san?"

"Well," she explains. "I thought I could polish up."

"For what?" Motoko exclaims. Thinking about it, Motoko follows suit.

"What's up Motoko?" Kitsune asks. "You going for Kietaro as well?"

"I'm just washing as usual!" she exclaims.

_AHH!_ Shinobu thinks, seeing the scene unfolding before her._ Things are changing fast. I'd better not fall behind!_

"Scrubbing away Shinobu?" Su asks. "I'll help you!" She starts scrubbing her back. "There! Maximum strength!"

"Ekk! Stop that Kaora!"

_What are they up to?_ Naru thinks when she sees the girls acting strangely. _But what is with Kietaro? He's not himself…_ Then realization dawns upon her. _Or could it be that he's not interested in me anymore?_

She examines her mirror image. _Well, I haven't been dressing up lately and my skin's rough…_ she holds her cheek. _Have I gained some weight? Maybe I'm losing my charm?_

She comes to a conclusion. _I should start taking better care from now on._

She notices Kietaro's form approaching the spring entrance. _Kietaro?_ she thinks.

"Narusegawa!" he says suddenly from behind the door.

"Eh? Kietaro?"

"Um, I have to go out, so tell Shinobu to just leave something that I can warm up, okay?"

"Um… sure…" she says from his strange behavior.

Of course, when Naru told the other girls about Kietaro's plans, they all decided to follow him. He had been acting strangely lately and maybe this would help explain it to them. Since Kietaro had such a lead on them, Su procured one of her modified Kietaro radars and they started their hunt.

Kietaro went a great distance, taking cabs, trains, buses and a strange route through the streets, almost as if he was trying to keep someone from following him, which further stoked the girls' suspicions.

_I wonder what Sempai is up to? _Shinobu thought. _Maybe he's a secret agent!_ she thought and imagined him battling it out with hordes of evil people.

_Maybe Urishima is really a samurai?_ Motoko thought, imagining one of her stories where they sparred and Kietaro won and had 'fun' with her.

_Maybe he's getting' lucky?_ Kitsune thought, imagining Kietaro taking an unsuspecting girl to a hotel and taking her.

_Maybe he's leaving?_ Naru thinks in bewilderment, imagining him leaving on a ship to who knows where without even saying goodbye.

_Ara, Ara, I wonder what game we're playing, _Mutsumi thinks.

_Banana…_ some mind thinks.

After an hour of going around in circles, Kitsune says impatiently, "Man, how much longer is this gonna take?"

"I think we should just force him to explain his strange behavior," Motoko says, holding the hilt of her blade.

"Hey, he's stopped moving!" Su says excitedly. The girls look around and find themselves in a park not too far away from Hinata-sou. They cautiously sneak up towards where Kietaro is and take a peek. What they find almost causes them to jump back.

_That little perv…_ Naru thinks, her left eyebrow twitching and her fist wound up.

_Sempai… how could you!_ Shinobu thinks, tearing.

_I didn't think ya had it in ya…_ Kitsune thinks with a toothy grin.

Yes. Kietaro was with another girl. He was hugging her with his head resting on her shoulder. She was also embracing him, her hand moving along his back soothingly.

_And here we all thought he stopped being pervert, when he was just his usual self! _Naru was about to go up to the letcher and give him a piece of her mind when Motoko stopped her.

"Motoko, what are you doing! We have to teach that pervert a lesson!"

"Something is not right about this, Naru-sempai…" Motoko says cryptically.

"What do you mean?" Naru says, a bit calmer and more curious.

"Kietaro's aura is different. I feel… I feel much anguish coming from him…" she says sympathetically.

"What?" Shinobu asks. "Sempai is sad?"

"That may explain why he's been acting so different lately…" Naru realizes.

"But Kei-kun usually reaches out to us whenever he's sad," Mitsumi says.

"Well, obviously it's something he can't tell us," Kitsune says disappointedly. "So we can't just up and go ask him. It's too bad that we can't listen in on him…"

"Actually," Su says, pushing buttons on her radar. A little transparent tube pops out. "My Kietaro radar comes with set of spy tools, including a laser microphone!"

"How does a laser work as a microphone?" Shinobu asks. Su starts blabbing, but basically mean that the device shines a laser at a surface and reads the light reflected back to detect vibrations on the surface and converts the vibrations into noises.

"Well, hurry up and point it at him!" Kitsune says. "We've probably missed a bunch of the juicy stuff because of that little science lesson of yours!"

"Rightees," Su says and points it in his directions.

"Nuts… nuts… nuts…" the device says in a sqeaky voice.

"Su! What's all this about?" Naru says impatiently.

"I dunno… lemme see what I'm pointin' at," she says and pushes another button. A camera comes out and the image of a squirrel is displayed on the radar's screen. "Whoops…" Su says and points it at the couple in question.

The display shows the face of the woman that is hugging Kietaro, letting them have a good look at her, since they are too far away to see her well from their distance. The woman looks like a foreigner and has strange markings on her forehead and under her eyes. She also has really silky white streaked black hair and pure emerald eyes. Su points the laser at one of her ridiculously large earrings and the device gets a good return to convert.

"-an't be with them anymore," Kietaro says, sobbing. "It's just too painful! Every moment that I have to be with them… I-it's like someone is squeezing my heart and pricking it with a needle. I… I honestly think that… it was a mistake for me to be with those girls, Sa-"

Su dropped the device at his last words. The other girls didn't mind; their hearts had fallen with it. There was only one thought going through all of their minds. _It was a mistake for me to be with those girls_

Needless to say, Kietaro wasn't there for dinner that evening, not that there was any dinner for him to have partaken even if he was there.

(O)

"It's been like forever since I've been here…" Kietaro says to himself. He is currently standing in front of the main building in Todai at this late hour. He remembered that Christmas so long ago, when he was about to throw his dream away completely.

_This is Todai?_ Kietaro thought in amazement. _I've come her twice, yet it seems so big…_ He remembered his promise girl and the promise they made.

_Sorry… I couldn't keep the promise…_ "I'm such a loser…"

He looked up at the tower. "I guess this is farewell…" he said to it as if it was listening. "I… so want to come here…"

He opened his umbrella and started walking away. He froze, though, when he saw someone else with an umbrella.

"Na-Naru!" he says in surprise when she walks up to him.

"I knew you would be here."

"That! I! I!"

"Close your eyes," she orders.

"Huh?"

"Hurry."

"Like this?" he says, his eyes closed. A punch to the face answers him.

"Ha! That felt good," she said, smiling. "Now we're even."

"…What?" Kietaro says, sitting up. He walks up to her. "So-sorry… Trust me, I only read a small part of it!" he says as they walk together. "Naru listen… I've decided that I'll be leaving Hinata-sou." He turns to see her in front of a yam truck.

"I want two hot yams," she orders. Thanks."

"Naru, listen to me… seriously," he says. She sighed.

"We're together alone on Christmas Eve, and it's snowing… it's so romantic," she says.

"Huh?"

"I felt sure that you would come here before leaving…" she says, happily nibbling on a yam. _I think I'm beginning to understand you better._ "Here," she says, giving him one of her yams.

"Ah… thank you," he says, accepting.

"Hee," she says, her arms outstretched, a smile on her face. "I haven't felt this happy in a long time…" She holds her hand out and says, "Look."

"What?" Kietaro asks.

"When you look at it this way… it looks like Todai is just within your grasp… right?" He just looks at her. She starts running towards the tower, her arms outstretched like a child pretending to be an airplane. She puts her hands on the side of the building and says, "See! It's within my grasp!" Kietaro falls to the ground.

"And… if you left Hinata-sou, I'll have no one to yell at," she says to him. She walks up to him to help him up.

"Well, do your best. Don't give up because the prep exam didn't go well."

"Naru…" he says as she pulls him.

"Hurry… get up!" she says, bumping her big fat butt into a tree. "Whaa!" she says, covered in snow.

"Hehe…" Kietaro giggles, Naru glaring at him. "Hahaha…" he starts. "What are you doing, you id-" he gets cut off, a snowball whacking into his face. "Hey! I'm supposed to be depressed! That's…"

"Haha! Idiot!" she teases.

"Take this!" he says, throwing a snowball at her.

"No good," she says, dodging. The two start having a major snow war.

Later…

_Why on earth did I come to Tokyo U?_, Naru thinks on all fours, panting.

_Is this how an examinee should behave?_ Kietaro remarks. He looks up and sees the main Todai building. He holds his hand up and grabs it, smiling.

By now, he is in tears. Getting his composure back, he wipes his tears and leaves, determined to follow through with his task.

(O)

Motoko was at a loss. Why did she feel this way? She had all but cried herself to sleep the night before. Fortunately, Su had decided to sleep in her own room that night, sparing her from further shame.

She had woken up and did her morning practice session as usual, but found herself completely distracted. She could barely manage to shred the falling leaves this morning. She sat down, deciding that maybe a break would help.

_Really… what's going on with me…_ she thinks.

I honestly think that… it was a mistake for me to be with those girls

Motoko clutches her heart, as if something were tearing at it. _Why do I feel so?_ she begs, tears starting to stream down her face.

"Motoko…" a voice says. "What's wrong with you?" Motoko turns to face the voice and almost wets her pants.

"Whoa, Kietaro! What are you doing here?"

"I've been meditating since sunrise. I just noticed that you were here and saw you crying," Urishima answers.

Wiping her face with her gi's sleeve, Motoko asks suspiciously, "You've been here since sunrise? I never noticed your presence…"

Kietaro puts his hand behind his head nervously and says, "Actually, I've been here since last night. To tell the truth, I think I actually fell asleep." Motoko can't help but smile at him being his old self again.

"Hey, how about this? Spar with me. It'll cheer you up!"

"You're going to be my opponent? Are you mad?" _Why is he dressed like that?_ she thinks when she realizes that he has on an all-black, male version of what she was wearing.

"You think that you stand a chance against me?" she says dismissively. "Are you feeling masochistic or something this morning?" she adds, going back to her workout.

"Don't worry about me. I'm just a ronin in sweaty kendo clothes," he says, his hand still behind his head. When she continues to ignore him, he adds, "Besides. Your skills haven't been up to par recently."

"Enough Urishima!" Motoko says, preparing to unleash a ki attack. "If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!" she continues, her practice stick high above her head. She quickly slashes it down, screaming, "SHINMEI SCHOOL SECRET ARTS! ROCK SPLITTING SWORD!"

"Too slow!" Kietaro says jovially, sending a torrent of strikes with his own stick at her open side. Motoko hadn't even seen him move, but luckily managed to block in time. _When did he get so strong?_ She asks, barely able to stand her ground. She is suddenly distracted from her thoughts and movements when she sees Kietaro flash a smile at her.

"Hehe, Motoko… Whether it's studying or Kendo…" he says, slashing his sword horizontally, knocking her stick out of her hand. "You look cute when you're serious," he says, slashing forward.

_What!?_ she thinks as she bents back to avoid the stab. In her loss of thought, she almost falls backwards, but a strong arm holds her up. She opens her eyes and finds Kietaro's staring back at her. She started to sense the proximity of their bodies and lips.

"Don't ever change," he says, his hot breath caressing her lips.

"Kietaro…" she moans and moves up to meet his calling lips.

However, she finds herself vertically on her feet again, Kietaro reaching out to shake her hand.

"That was really refreshing, Motoko-chan," he says, as if he didn't notice that moment they had a second ago. "I hope we can do this again tomorrow morning?"

Confused a little, she shakes his hand and agrees. He held onto the shake for a bit longer then one normally would, which caused Motoko to blush at the warmness of it, and let go. He places it behind his head and says, "I think I'll take a bath now. I've worked up quite a sweat from that workout." With that, he walks to his private bath. "Later," he waves to her from behind.

_Kietaro…_ Motoko thought, putting her fingers to her lips, replaying what had just happened moments ago. She came to a sudden realization. She made a short prayer to whatever merciful god had answered her pleas and went back to her practice session. She hadn't had such focus for years.

(O)

Later that afternoon

Shinobu walked on the street alone, an umbrella being the only thing between her being completely soaked and only her face being wet.

(Shinobu's diary:) _Being the most horrible person in the world, I took a streetcar and went on a sad vacation._

"Unfortunately," she says to herself with a down cast face. "Because of my budget, I could only take a street car to the next town…"

"Its fits a small child like me though…" she says. _Not only am I a horrible student_, she thinks looking at her last test, _I made Sempai sad…_ A bunch of guys on the street, however, think otherwise and try to pick her up.

"Shinobu?" a voice says.

"Huh?" she turns to the voice and sees a person leaving a store that has 'Exotic and Import Instruments' written on its entrance. "Sempai!" she says nervously as usual.

"Hey, what are you doing here, walking all alone?" he asks with a look of concern.

I honestly think that… it was a mistake for me to be with those girls

She looks down, so he can't see her eyes. "Sempai… I… Actually…"

"Shinobu… I heard you did badly on your last test. Is that why you're out here alone?"

_Sempai already knows about that? And why is he here? Is he running away too?_ She sprints away, unable to deal with what's happening in her life. She says to him as she leaves, "I'm sorry!"

"But Shinobu," he calls after her, flashing a bunch of papers. "You've forgotten your exam papers!"

"Ah! Don't look at that!" she says embarrassed, running back to get them.

"Shinobu, calm down first!" he says, putting a hand on her head. She just looked down at the ground, he eyes shadowed.

"What does it matter? I'm a bad student with my marks and I'll never get into Todai… and I made Sempai sad…" tearing at her last words.

Kietaro just looked at her sadly. "I'm leaving!" she said suddenly, snatching her test and fleeing. Unfortunately, she trips on the curb and hurts her foot.

"Ouch," she says when Kietaro reaches her. He shifts his umbrella so that it protects Shinobu also.

"Shinobu," he asks tenderly. "Are you okay?" She nods and gets helped up. Kietaro looks serious for a few moments and says to her, "Would you like to go on a date?"

"What?" she asks from his surprising offer. "But why?"

"Because then you'll owe me and the only way you can repay me is by getting into Todai," he says cheerfully.

"Really?" she asks. He nods, still smiling.

_OMGOMGOMGOMG…_ Shinobu keeps on thinking. Kietaro had taken her to an amusement park called Never Land and they spent the day together. Right now, they were on a Ferris wheel eating ice-cream cones.

_MeandSempaiMeandSempai…_

_Wow… I was going on a sad vacation, but ended up going on a vacation with Sempai, _she thought when she could think coherently. _Am I dreaming?_

"Shinobu, are you alright?" Kietaro asks, since Shinobu has just been staring at her cone even though the Ferris wheel had stopped for them to get off.

"Wha-what?" she says, going red.

"Are you hungry?" he asks as he helps her out. "Let's go eat!"

At a fancy restaurant

_Wow, this is great! _Shinobu thinks, getting a good look at the place. _Does Sempai and Naru-sempai come to places like this? I have to act like an adult or I'll get laughed at!_ she suddenly realizes.

A waiter comes with a tray and gives Kietaro his order. "Here is your buttered shell and red wine."

"Wow!" Shinobu says looking at his order. "Sempai is so mature…" _What should I get?_

"And here is your kids meal and milk," the waiter says, giving Shinobu a kids meal, a glass of milk and a teddy bear. _Waah! _Shinobu thinks at her kiddie treatment.

"Can I have a glass of red wine?" she asks the waiter in an attempt to act mature.

"Sorry…" he says, shooting her down. "We can't provide children with alcohol."

"Oh… never mind…" she says. After eating someof her kid's meal, she sighs and says, "I can't act like Naru Sempai…"

"Haha… yours looks tasty…" Kietaro says, trying to wash down his bitter meal with his drink. "Shinobu, let me tell you, Naru cries and whines like a kid sometimes! She isn't as mature as you think!"

"You can't fool me," she accuses. "Naru-sempai was ranked number one, and she's a smart and beautiful adult…"

"And I'm a big dumb idiot, and I even dream of going to Todai! I'm so childish!" she says childishly.

"Shinobu, clam down or you'll choke!" Kietaro says, but too late. He gives her water to help it go down.

"EH?" he says when he realized he gave her his glass. "This is white wine!" he suddenly realizes. Shinobu has her face on the table, seemingly knocked out.

"Shinobu…" he says cautiously. "Are you okay?"

"Sempai…" she says, raising her head. Kietaro can tell she's already drunk. "You relationship with Naru-sempai… is at what stage?"

"W-what are you talking about?" Kietaro says in false embarrassment. Indeed, his tone is very depressed.

"Sempai, don't hide the truth!" she says, ignoring his tone. "It's okay…" she says, suddenly calm. "I also like Naru-sempai. What you do with her is your right, so go ahead…" she says sadly. "But…" she adds.

"Shinobu…" Kietaro says softly. Suddenly, she brings her face up to his. "You… what do you really think about me?" she pleads. Kietaro just looks around desperately, hoping for some help. Frustrated, Shinobu drops to the floor and starts flailing around, saying, "I'm not a kid anymore!"

"Sir…" a waiter says. Kietaro apologizes and picks up Shinobu to his lap.

"Shinobu!" he says a little angrily. "Snap out of it!" Putting his face close to hers, he says, "You can't behave like that!"

"Wah!" she says nervously because of their proximity and because of him holding her bridal style.

Seeing her face, Kietaro says, "Shinobu… I'm sorry…" His face shows pain that his scolding to Shinobu shouldn't have caused him.

However, Shinobu just looks at him dreamily and says, "It's so cool… it's like we're in a movie or something…"

Kietaro pays the bill and leaves, still holding the girl bridal style. Shinobu points down a street, navigating Kietaro to some destination, still giddy.

"Shinobu, where are we going?" he asks after a while.

"Does it matter…" she muses. She continues, nevertheless, saying, "A place I booked before I went on this sad vacation."

When Kietaro sees what she's pointing at, he exclaims, "What did you book!" It was what is known as a quickie hotel…

"We're here!" Kietaro declares, closing the door.

Shinobu kicks him into the washroom, saying, "You take a bath first!"

She jumped onto the futon on the floor and thought, _This futon is so soft,_ contently.

"Hehe…EH!" she realized, suddenly sober. Her eyes swirling, she thought, _I used being drunk as an excuse to go and do something like this?_

Realizing what kind of hotel they were in, she thought, _Does this mean me and sempai are gonna…_

"Shinobu, I'm done, you can go," Kietaro says, coming out of the bath.

"O-okay!" she says and scrambles in.

(In the bath)

_Is this real? _she thinks. _What am I going to do? Am I going to do that kind of thing with Sempai? I'm not ready yet…_

As she leaves the bath, she thinks, _But… but Sempai like Naru-sempai… Sempai wouldn't do this kind of thing!_

"Let's go back," Shinobu says happily when she sees Kietaro.

"Shinobu," he says in a serious tone.

_Wah!_

Looking at her with a serious face, he says, "Let's finish out business here first!"

_What!_

"But… I'm not ready for this yet!" she says, a little hysteric.

"Don't worry," he says, holding her hand. "This kind of thing… I'll be gentle." Suddenly, he holds a strip of cloth in his hands. "Besides, this kind of thing is done early!"

_What! What is that for!_ she thinks, thinking of a bondage scene.

"Here, sit down," Kietaro says, putting her into position.

_What is that for?_ she thinks. _Sempai… I…_

"No! I can't!" she says, putting her hands to her face.

"Okay!" Kietaro says, sitting next to her, a similar strip of cloth tied to his head. "Let's start at your worst subject, math!"

"…what?" Shinobu says, opening her eyes. They are sitting in front of a table, her test strewn over it.

"We have to hurry and go over these mistakes you made on your test!" he explains. "If you don't make the same mistake, you'll make 100 for sure."

"I… see," Shinobu says, some part of her disappointed. _I'm such a pervert! Sempai just wanted to help me study!!!_ she thought, panicking a little. _Even though I was gonna study hard to go to Todai, I got bad marks and drunk and did weird things…_ she thought, whimpering. _I even had perverted thoughts…_

Sighing, she says to her mentor, "I should give up wanting to become like Naru-Sempai. I should forget about going to Todai…"

"What? Don't say that!" Kietaro says, putting a hand on the distraught girl's head.

Looking her in the eye, Kietaro says, smiling, "Shinobu, you always do your best. And you're always determined… That's what I've always loved about you, Shinobu-kun…"

Shinobu stops crying and stares at her mentor, surprised by the affectionate admission he told her.

"You will become a girl that becomes _so_ much more beautiful than Naru… and all of the guys will like you," he says. He takes his hand off of her and holds the test papers. "And you've always encouraged me. It's about time that I repay you," he says… lets work hard together!"

"Okay Sempai!" Shinobu says, her energy back. "I'll do my best!"

"Okay then, back to math! Lets do some Trig!" he says.

"Yeah…" Shinobu says, her enthusiasm gone…

Later

"Hey, the rain stopped!" Shinobu says after finishing scoring herself.

"Yeah. Since you did so well, I think we're done," Kietaro says, smiling.

Outside

"So most of your errors were from careless mistakes." Kietaro says after Shinobu realizes from reviewing her test. "Just like me!"

"Hehe, I'm just careless." She looks at her test again and says, "If I did this calmly, I would have gotten a 75! Next time I just have to calm down." She looks at Kietaro with a smile and her head tilted cutely and says, "Sempai, you're really reliable. I hope you can be with me always!"

Kietaro's smile goes to a frown as his face becomes visibly depressed. "Yeah…" he says, his voice trembling. "Me too…"

Sensing this change, she amends her statement, saying, "I mean that I really respect you, Sempai…"

Kietaro looks at the girl and tries to cheer up. "Oh, right…" he says, still sadly. He looks away and asks, "Shinobu, did you have fun today?"

"Of- Of course, Sempai."

"That's great," he says, sad again. "Can't believe a useless person like me can actually help you…" he says.

"Sempai," Shinobu asks, bewildered by his confession. "Why would you be useless?"

Kietaro stops walking where they were heading and walks to a park instead. He silently keeps on walking until they reach a secluded bench. As he sits, he says, "Because I can't even protect you girls…" and lets out a breath. He suddenly feels something soft and warm on his lips.

"Shinobu-chan…" Kietaro says, blushing.

"Hehe… Did that cheer you up? You look better like that."

Thinking for a few moments, he finally smiles and reaches into his pocket. He takes out something that looks bizarre.

"Sempai?" Shinobu questions, the tables turned. Moments later, her eyes beam as a beautiful song engulfs the park.

"Shinobu! Where have you been?" Naru says worriedly. The little girl had just disappeared without a trace, worrying the other residents.

"Me and Sempai were studying," Shinobu answers, smiling ear to ear.

"Where is he?" she questions. Shinobu looks behind her and sees no one.

"He was right behind me…" she says.

(O)

Everything was black and that's all Kietaro knew about the place he was in right now. As he ascended the steps to Hinata-sou, someone grabbed him from behind and knocked him out. When he came to, he was standing, blindfolded. He could tell he was in a field of sorts, because of the ambient noise, but something didn't feel right about the place.

"Ya can take ur thingy off!" Su said.

"I knew there was something wrong with this…" Kietaro grumbled. He undid his blindfold, but "gacked" to the floor. In his hands was a pair of panties.

"Man, Su, what is this about?" He asked irritably.

"We're playing!" Sarah said. Suddenly a torrent of fast, little _something's _flew his way from two directions. Kietaro ducked into the long grass, managing to hide as the _something's_ whizzed passed.

"Su, this isn't fair!" Kietaro whined. "I can't even defend myself!"

"But we left your gun at ur feet," she hollered and fired again, this time from a new position. Kietaro felt along the ground and came upon a wacky looking gun. He fooled around with it until he ascertained which end it fired from. Taking a deep breath, he fired at the last position he remembered that fired at him. Immediately, he was engulfed with fire from two other positions, but he managed to duck in time.

Half an hour later…

"This is getting ridiculous…" Kietaro grumbled. It had been a long game of fire and duck and Kietaro was running out of ammo. He was sure he used a shorter burst then the other two, but they didn't show any signs of running out.

But his patience paid off when the girls lost theirs and charged at him. He hadn't really moved his position the whole time and he figured they would assume the same for now. He discreetly moved to another position, his gun pointing where he was sitting moments before.

"You pervert!" Sarah says jovially and jumps to his old spot, guns blazing.

"Gotcha!" Kietaro says and pelts her with his gun.

"No! How could I lose to a dork!" Sarah says in defeat. She walks away, her head hung in shame.

_Now all I have to do is just get Su and I'm safe…_ Kietaro thinks. He crawls along the ground on his belly and moves to another position, as stealthily as a ninja.

_That looks like a good place to stalk from,_ Kietaro thinks when he sees a patch of high grass. He crawls to it and looks up.

"Gack!" he says, blood spurting out of his nose. _White…_ he thinks after looking up Su's skirt.

"There ya are ya pervert!" Su says jovially and pelts him with banana filled BB pellets.

"No!" Kietaro says in defeat.

"Yah!" Su says, jumping around in victory, doing some strange dance. A few minutes later, she jumps on Kietaro's defeated form, straddling on his stomach.

"Aww, Su, what do I have to do for losing?" Kietaro says with a defeated look.

"Ya have ta play with us tommorra!" she says between licking off banana gunk off of him, causing parts of him to wake up.

"Um… s-s-sure. Just stop that!" he says and grabs her by the shoulder so that they are both upright. He looks at Su's face and sees that she's crying. "Su…"

"You hate me, don't you Kietaro?" she asks between sobs.

"What? Why would I ever hate you?" he says in a confused tone. "Su, you're one of the most respectable people that I've ever met in my life! I don't think anyone can compare with your wisdom."

"So you don't mind playing with me?" she says, her tears subsiding.

"Nah, It's actually pretty fun sometimes, though you tend to get a little excited sometimes…" Back to herself, Su jumps to her feet and starts running back to the former inn.

"Last one back is a rotten egg!" she says, bolting.

"No fair!" Kietaro says, giving chase, the sun setting as the two make their way to the steps. Su made it first and was bent over, her hands to her knees and panting. Moments later, Kietaro finally catches up and does the same.

"Hey Kietaro," Su says as she climbs the steps, her breath caught up.

"Yeah, Su?" he asks between pants.

"I respect you too," she says, not looking back. Kietaro just stares at her as she scales the steps.

"Hey Su!" Shinobu says at the top. "Have you seen Sempai?" Kietaro smiles.

Yeah. It felt good to be home again. Without him knowing it though, the corners of his smiling lips descended, turning it into a sad frown.

Though all goods things must come to an end…

(O)

Some days later

"Something strong," a voice asks the bartender. _Never heard that guy before,_ Kitsune thinks through the haze of the alcohol's influence. She grins, thinking, _I could get a few drinks off of him if I play it right…_

She discreetly made her way next to the stranger, making sure not to look at him till the last minute. When she was sitting next to him, she stole a glance and almost choked on her drink.

"Kietaro?" she said in wonder. He didn't notice her at all. He just stared at his half empty glass, looking like he had a lot on his mind. Kitsune, not used to this type of Kietaro just stared at him, neither speaking a word.

After what seemed like hours, Kietaro came out of his gloom and took another sip, causing Kitsune to break her stare.

"Oh, hi Kitsune," Kietaro said. "Didn't notice you there…"

"Kietaro. What's on your mind?" Mitsune said reverting to her more serious self and taking the role of 'Big Sister.'

"Nothing much…" Kietaro lied, still staring at his glass.

Mitsune put an arm on his shoulder and said, "You know, if there's anything you need to talk about, I'll always be there for you…"

Kietaro grunted a reply, still looking at his glass. Frustrated with his resistance Mitsune decided to play her hand.

"Don't play dumb with me, Kietaro. I know you're up to something…" she said. There was no way an amateur like Kietaro would be able to pull something off without a master like Kitsune knowing. "Lately, you've been chumming up with the girls. I mean, you're actually working out with Motoko in the mornings for crying out loud!"

"I have, haven't I?" Kietaro said, still staring at his glass. She glanced at him and saw a small, sad, half-smile on his face. He wasn't budging. All he did was agree. Normally, the old Kietaro would automatically deny the fact and then Kitsune would attack from there.

Since devious methods were obviously going nowhere, Mitsune decided to go all out. Her hand had failed and it was time to use the ace up here sleeve.

"We saw you the other day," she said, acting depressed and looking at her glass like he was. He didn't respond.

"You were with another woman," she continued, a bit of irritation in her voice. He turned to face her.

"What are you talking about?" he said nervously. "The only girls I've been with recently have been you guys."

"Since when did any of us have a tattoos on our faces?" she accused, meeting his glance. His face showed that he knew that he was caught. He turned back to stare at his interesting drink, a smirk on his face.

"I guess I've been caught," he chuckled. Mitsune was furious at him. She didn't know why, but something about his attitude was just… pissing her off.

She slammed her glass onto the counter and angrily told him, "Dammit, Kietaro, look at me when I'm talking to you!" He turned back to her, sadness written across his face.

"Sorry," he said meekly.

"Sorry won't cut it!" she said, not knowing where she was going with this. She ordered another drink. "We overheard you…" she started. Kietaro got _very_ jumpy.

"What?! What did you hear?" he said, scared.

"That you thought it was a mistake to be with us…" she said, the alcohol already getting to her.

"Oh," he said, the fear gone and replaced with- relief? He looked at her empty glass and ordered something else for her. "Well, if that's what you're worrying about, I'm not gonna leave or something…"

"It's Naru, isn't it?" Mitsune said, almost drunk.

"How could you tell?" Kietaro said. Kitsune smirked.

"She's been complaining about how you've been hanging around with everyone else and haven't sexually abused her recently."

"She said that?" Kietaro said, chuckling.

"No," she said "But I've known her for years, and I _know _that's what she meant." The two shared a laugh.

"But seriously, Kietaro," Kitsune said in a slurred manner. "She misses you." Kietaro just sat there, looking at his only drink for the night.

"I've miss her too…" he said. He had had his elbows on the counter to support his upper half the whole time, but he collapsed on them and started crying. "God, I've missed you all so much…" he said between sobs.

Even though Mitsune was drunk, her 'Big Sister' instincts kicked in. She pulled Kietaro into a hug and whispered into his ear, "Just let it all out. It's okay, I'm here for you…"

(O)

Naru sighed. She had been trying to study the last few days, but she always felt distracted. _Damn Kietaro…_ she thought. Ever since he had been acting strange, she felt alone and frustrated for some reason. _I guess I'm used to tutoring that baka,_ she thought. _And I haven't blown off any steam on him lately…_ she mused.

And then it clicked…

_That's right! He started acting funny since that day I gave him one of my punches! Maybe it's all my fault? _she thought in horror. But Kietaro was invincible, that couldn't be the reason. She thought of a worse reason.

_Or maybe he just doesn't like me anymore?_

Sensing how these thoughts made her look like the bad guy, she brushed it all away, thinking, _I don't care what that idiot thinks anyway…_

She went back to trying to study.

Hours later

Someone knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Naru asked. She hadn't really gone anywhere with her studies at all the whole day.

"Um, it's me," Kietaro said.

"Kietaro?" Naru asked, the door open in an instant. Realizing that she was acting desperate, she fell back into her normal facade, adding, "What do _you_ want?"

_I'm such an idiot… _she thought. She softened her face when she saw that he was about to back out on what he was about to do.

"Um… the test is real soon and we've been studying really hard, so I thought maybe you'd like to… uh… go out with me for dinner? You know, just for a break?"

_That was strange… but lets have a little fun first…_ Naru thought, smirking.

"_You_ wanna go out with _me_?" she asked, pointing at them when saying their names. He nodded, blushing.

"Even though the test is so close?" He nodded.

"Even though you've been playing around this _whole_ week?" He nodded again, but this time less sure of himself. _I think that's about enough._

"Well, I'm sorry, but I have to study," she said, her nose in the air. _Oops, I forgot to stop there._

"Oh," he said sadly. "I'm sorry to bother you then."

_Uh-oh…_ "But if you insist," she said, "I guess I can spare a few hours…"

His face brightened up considerably and he said enthusiastically, "Great! Can you be ready by eight?"

"Sure," Naru said, smiling. Kietaro walked back to his room, visible happiness to his step.

That evening

Naru was running late. She had decided to go casual for the date, but was having second thoughts. Kietaro was being a gentleman and was waiting for her at the lobby. Kitsune came in and dragged her downstairs. She wasn't that happy to see Naru so unsure with herself.

"Hi Naru," Kietaro said in wonder. He had never seen Naru this good looking before.

"Hey," she said, blushing.

"Well then, I think we should go now…" Kietaro said, getting a bit nervous from the presence of the other girls.

"Yeah," she said and followed him out. She could swear it felt like the others were jealous of her or something.

"So," she said. "Where are we going?" The first time they had a date, he took them to a beef bowl…

"It's a surprise," he said, smiling. Not happy that he had the upper hand, she stuck her tongue out and 'Nyah'ed him. They both laughed.

Soon after that, they arrived at what seemed to be a comedy club. The comedian that night was notoriously funny and Naru could tell that she would have a good time.

"Wow, Kietaro. I'm impressed. After out last date, I thought you had no taste at all." Kietaro thought a moment and remembered it.

"Oh… that thing with the beef bowl, right?" he said and she nodded. "Sorry about that. But you liked the aquarium, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah, it was kinda fun…" Naru said, remembering it.

"And everyone kept on bumping into us," they said at once. They looked at each other and laughed. Then they laughed nervously as their eyes checked the room. A waiter came up to them and they placed their orders. After finishing their meal, they talked a little about the test and about some of the funnier times they had together.

The comedian came up soon after that and had Naru gasping for breath. She glanced at Kietaro once in a while, but he was always staring at her, like he wasn't paying attention to the comedian at all.

"I had a really good time," Naru said as the two walked back to Hinata-sou together.

"Yeah, me too," Kietaro said sheepishly. He was looking at the sticker photos that they had taken after their date.

She knew he had been trying to hold her hand for some time, but kept on messing up. So like before, she made an excuse about being cold and held onto his arm.

"If you want, I'll give you my jacket?" he offered.

"You think I'm holding your arm because I'm cold?" she said flatly.

"Sorry," he said, but suddenly pulled her off the sidewalk and into a park.

"Hey, where are we going?" she asked when he started running and pulling her with him.

"Just be patient," he said softly. And for once in her life, she actually was.

Moments later, she could hear water. She couldn't see anything, since there were trees covering everything and the moonlight couldn't really penetrate that well.

"Where are we?" she asked. He helped her sit down. The water was right behind her, so she could tell it was a water fountain.

"It's a place I come to when I want to be alone," he said.

"Oh, that's why you're so familiar with this place. I can barely see my hands in this light!"

"Sorry," he said and walked away.

"Kietaro! Where are you going?" she said, panicked.

"I'm right here," he said, suddenly illuminated. Naru looked up and saw that the moon was directly above them. She looked around and saw that the fountain that they were near was very beautiful. Kietaro held something in his hands.

"What's that?" she inquired.

"It's called a Holophone," he said and put it to his mouth. What happened next took Naru's breath away.

As he started playing his first notes, something snaked out of the instrument. It almost seemed to slither in the air and then enlarged. And then it was like she was watching TV.

A really amazing, beautiful TV. The thing showed the scene of a beautiful paradise island and the camera seemed to fall into the lush forest that was growing in it. The camera just floated around in there, showing stunning images of jaguars, flora and a pair of birds. The birds started flying together and the camera followed them. One was a black Bird of Prey and the other was an auburn parrot-like bird with an elegant head that had large feathers protruding beautifully out of it.

The birds broke the forests line, flew past the beach where dolphins were jumping into the air and dived into the water. The camera was blinded as the water foamed it up but cleared moments later. Instead of following a pair of birds now, it was follow a pair of dolphins.

They swam quickly and reached a beautiful reef. In it were beautiful fish, dangerous looking sharks and colorful plants. The dolphins shot through a large school of fish, causing a breathtaking view of the scattering. The dolphins then jumped to the surface, where the camera stayed, following the dolphins as they kept on jumping into the air and back under water, probably having a lot of fun. It was dark now, and the camera caught a glimpse of the reflection of the moon on the seawater.

The dolphins jumped again, but this time they shot into the air. The camera followed, but was blinded by clouds. When it broke the surface, it suddenly slowed down to show a pair of Chinese dragons looping in the sky, intertwining. One was black while the other auburn. They breathed fire, illuminating the clouds below them in a breathtaking showcase of their sheer power.

The dragons suddenly untangled themselves and began flying higher. They went off into space, the camera still following them. They moved at incredible speeds and beautiful stellar entities whizzed by. The camera slowed to a stop and the dragons disappeared. The camera turned around until its viewing area was englufed by a beitiful view of a crab nebula. There was an intense white point somwhere inside it that suddenly exploded. It was probably a star going nova, and it made quite a beautiful display.

The scene suddenly shimmered away and sharpened itself into Todai. In it, she saw students walking about as usual on a school day, but for some reason, her attention went to what appeared to be a happy couple that was holding hands. The camera lowered itself until it was clear who it was. It was Kietaro and her…

The image collapsed.

"I'm sorry about that," Kietaro said, bowing in apology. I didn't mean to do that."

"Kietaro…" Naru said. She got up and walked up to him. She put her hands on his still bowing head and pulled him into her chest. "You don't have to apologize…" she said with a tender voice. "I wanted to see what happened next," she said, speaking with her heart for once. She could swear he was crying.

"I-I'm so sorry, Narusegawa," he said, pain in his voice. "This was all just a mistake. A horrible mistake…" he said and ran away.

"Kietaro!" Naru called after him, confused over what he was doing.

After spending an hour trying to figure out where Hinata-sou was, Naru finally managed to make it to the entrance.

_The nerve of that guy,_ she thought angrily. _Just left me in the middle of nowhere!_

_But he did sound really sad when he just left like that. I wonder why he just left so suddenly?_

"Naru-sempai," Shinobu said. "Where's Kietaro-sempai?"

_He didn't come home? Maybe I've been too hard on him…_

"Um… he needed to go somewhere. He'll be back later…" _Why did I cover for him again?_

"Oh," she said, going from concern to her normal self. "Did you have fun?" Before answering, Naru thought about what she would say.

Smiling, she said, "I actually had a good time. That baka can be a gentleman when he tries."

The other girls met her and she was interrogated for some time about how the date went.

Later that night

Kietaro woke up. It was sometime in the afternoon and he had no idea where he was and why. _Duh. Naru probably punched me again…_ he thought. He remembered the night before and saw himself flying to space and colliding with a missile and crashing down where he was.

He walked out of the forest and made his way to Hinata-sou. At the entrance, he met Motoko, which almost made him jump out of his skin.

"H-h-hi, Motoko…" Kietaro said nervously at her glare. _Man, it's too early to be flying off into space again._

"Good afternoon, Kietaro-san. I'm disappointed that you missed our session this morning, but I guess I can understand how you feel after your experience with Naru last night."

Kietaro half expected her to slash him for peeking at her, but she just left, actually smiling at him for some reason.

"Kietaro!" Su said, latched to his neck. "You didn't go huntin' with me today," she said disappointed. "You better have another fire fight with me and Sarah to make up!"

Kietaro expected to be shot or something right then, but she just left, happily.

"U-um… Sempai," Shinobu said from behind. "Are you still gonna tutor me in math tonight?" she asked nervously.

"Sure…" he said. He half expected Naru to give him a punch for 'molesting' her.

He went to his room to change to fresh clothes. As he stripped, he noticed two things in his pants. One was a strange looking instrument. The other was a red piece of paper with something written in it in his handwriting. He read it, and put it somewhere that it wouldn't get lost.

Changed, he went to Naru's room to see if she would still tutor him, even after last night. He knocked on her door and found her glaring at him.

"Um… can I study with you today?" he asked sheepishly.

"And where were you last night? You just left me there, all alone! You had me worried."

"Huh?" he questioned.

"You know, during our date?"

"Date?" he repeated.

"Stop playing dumb!" she said angrily.

"Naru," he said, his face serious. She could see those same eyes he had before he played that Holophone thingy. "I have _no_ idea what you're talking about. All I remember last night was accidentally walking in on you and then getting sent to space."

"What?" she said, confused. Then she remembered. "Kietaro, that was over a week ago. We were on a date last night."

Kietaro sighed. "Man, what's going on here? Motoko claims I missed a practice session with her, Su says I was supposed to have hunted with her, and Shinobu suddenly asks me to tutor her."

Naru looked at him in shock. Did he really forget everything?

(O)

Three years later

Kietaro suddenly bolted up and started panting. _It was a dream… it was all just a dream…_ he assured himself. But remembering what happened in it made him cry.

_It was like she was here again. Like they were all still alive…_

"Hello, Kei-kun," a beautiful woman said.

He looked up to see a foreign looking woman that has strange markings on her forehead and under her eyes. She also had really silky white streaked black hair and pure emerald eyes.

He backed in fear.

"Y-y-you can't be here! You're not real! It was all just a dream!" he said, hysterical.

"Come now, Kei-kun. I can't have you not satisfied with your wish, can I?"

"You mean that I actually saw them?" he said, his eyes teary again.

"You had the strength to make it with them up to your date with Naru…" she said. Kietaro just stood there, his tears freely flowing.

"I miss them so much…" he told her. "I should have just killed myself then, not made that painful wish…"

"Kietaro! Hurry up! We're gonna be late!" Naru said from her room. Kietaro froze.

"Are you sure?" she said, smirking.

"B-but that's not possible! They died after Su's Mecha-Tama crashed in Pararakerusu!" he said. The Goddess just looked at him, still smiling.

"I guess that letter of yours did the trick," she said.

"You knew?" he said, his sobs going away.

"You play a mean Holophone," she chuckled, causing him to blush. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go get them!"

"Y-yeah…" he said, getting up. "Um… thank you. You don't know how much this means to me…"

"Your welcome, Kei-kun. Like I said, I give the _best_ of service," she said. She waved goodbye and teleported through a wall.

"Sa-" he started saying, but she had already disappeared. _Thank you again…_ he thought as he climbed into Naru's room. When he got up, Naru didn't go ballistic on him as usual, since she was changing. Actually, she was putting on her makeup and all she had on was a bra and panties. He slowly walked up to her and watched her reflection on her mirror, still asking himself if this was a dream or not.

"Kei-kun," she said, still applying some mascara. "If you don't hurry, we'll be late for our flight to-" she was cut off as Kietaro spun her around so that she was facing him. He reached out a hand to caress her face. Without even thinking about it, she closed her eyes and she nuzzled her cheek into his shaky hand's embrace. She sighed in content and went beet red to what he said next.

"I love you…" he said to her, crying.

"Kietaro?" she said, lovingly. He knelt before her.

"Narusegawa Naru, will you marry me?" he asked, looking at her in tears. She gave him a worried look.

"Kietaro… what's going on with you?" she said. He just gave her a pleading look. She sighed and showed him her ring finger. Which had some nice ice on it.

"I'm sorry, Kietaro, but I'm married now. What on earth would my loving husband think if I went and got married?" she said, acting innocent.

"Oh," he said, crushed. "I'm sorry I bothered you. I'll just leave then…"

Naru face faulted. "Kietaro, are you serious?"

"Huh?" Kietaro said with a strained voice.

Naru grabbed his hand and showed it to him. His jaw dropped when he saw an identical ring on his finger. His eyes kept on shifting between the ring and Naru.

"So you mean that… me… you… married?"

Naru giggled and said, "Sometimes you worry me, Kei-kun." She planted a light kiss on his forehead.

"So that means that we…" he said, his face turning red. Naru suddenly wore an evil smirk.

"You seem to be having problems with you memory…" she said playfully, standing up and pushing him. He fell on her futon. "Let me help you remember!" she said, jumping on him.

"Ah! Narusegawa! What about where ever we were going!" Kietaro said, not really ready for this. Maybe after he played catch up with his new life.

"I don't mind being late," she said, unhooking her bra.

Yeah, Kietaro almost flew out of the room because of the blood gushing.

"Sempai," Shinobu's voice said from outside. "Are you read-" she started, but turned pale at what she was seeing.

"What's going on?" Su asked. When she saw what was going on in Naru's room, she yelled, "Hey everyone, Naru and Kietaro are getting' it on!"

"I knew that's all you two thought about…" Kitsune said, grinning.

"Urishima!!!" Motoko said angrily, looking like her sister.

"Auuu…" Shinobu whined.

"Get you hands away from Onii-chan!" Kanako yelled.

"Ara, Ara. That looks fun, can I join in?" Mutsumi said.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Kietaro yelled as everyone piled on top on top of him and his lover.

(-O-)

This was a bit rushed and done with very little sleep, so I may do a revision of this in the future if a lot of people point out a lot of blatant errors, execpt for the seaons thing, I can't fix that.

I bet there are some PO'ed ppl out there expecting something from my other two current fics, but I have to apologize, since it may actually be a while till I update them. I have another massive project that I've almost completed that will follow this, but it may be a while since I'm in the process of moving to my dorm and getting the Internet hooked up may take a while…

But I'm sure that once I get that done I'll get back to updating like normally, so just hand tight XP


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